Presenting to peers about a body of knowledge, research proposal, threshold concept, case study analysis, rationale for a diagnosis, or outcome of a group project through oral presentations is a higher-order cognitive task and therefore of immense value as an assessment task (formative or summative). Since the move to online delivery, Unit Convenors have needed to redesign their ‘oral presentation’ assessment tasks. This article shares two examples of redesign from the Linguistics Department in FMHHS (thank you to Leonie Lampe and Titia Benders). We would love to hear about your examples in the comments section below.
Group presentation – Leonie Lampe
In a face-to-face delivery mode this assessment task would normally have students form groups, analyse a research article, present the synthesized information as a group to the rest of the cohort, and complete a self-reflection on the learning process. This assessment task is worth 10% of the final grade.
All of this is still achievable in iLearn, it just takes a little bit of time to set up the iLearn tasks and prepare the instruction guides in advance. It may seem like a lot of steps but once it is set up it can be reused or repurposed each iteration of the unit; and it nicely replicates a face-to-face experience for students.
The steps to complete this group video presentation submission (+ peer observation) assessment with related iLearn tools are outlined below. To improve on this work flow, we recommend that all the relevant assessment information is placed into an iLearn Book, using separate chapters for different elements.
Steps for setting up a group video submission
| Step No. | Description | iLearn Tool |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Students read the (very well prepared) assessment task guide that outlines the task requirements, submission instructions etc. | File (PDF) |
| 2 | Students join a group in preparation for the student presentations. Students can use the iLearn Discussion Forum to find a group. The groups have a maximum number of four students per group. | Group Selection Activity Discussion Forum |
| 3 | Students select a research paper from the list provided; or select their own article and request approval from UC. | PDF or Choice Activity |
| 4 | Groups work on their presentations using the guidelines provided. Students use the discussion forum to work out how and when they will meet. | PDF/File Discussion Forum |
| 5 | Students are invited to get feedback on their group presentation slides (optional). | Announcements Assignment (no grade option) |
| 6 | Students record their group presentation with the help of resources provided. Students are encouraged to use Zoom for their group video recording. | Folder Zoom (students have a zoom account too) |
| 7 | One person from each group uploads the video presentation and 2-PPT-slides (as PDF) for assessment; or 2 members of the group can upload a component each. | Media Collection is linked to the Assignment activity |
| 8 | Students submit their individual reflection. | Turnitin |
| 9 | Once the submission deadline has past, students are encouraged to go into the Media Collection to view, like and comment on other groups’ presentations <- peer learning. | Media Collection |
| 10 | Teachers grade the group video submissions in the Assignment activity. Grades and feedback are automatically returned to all group members. | Assignment activity |
Individual oral presentation + peer feedback – Titia Benders
In a face-to-face delivery mode this assessment task would normally have students provide a summary of the essential aspects of the student’s project proposal under the prescribed headings to the rest of the cohort, and peers would provide feedback on the research proposal presentation. This assignment is worth 35% of the final grade: The oral presentation is worth 25% and the peer review component is worth 10% of the students’ final grade.
All of this is still possible in iLearn, once again, it just takes a little bit of time to front load the iLearn activities and prepare the instructional resources in advance. The steps to complete this video presentation/peer review assessment task with related iLearn tools are outlined below.
Steps for setting up individual video submission and peer feedback
| Step No. | Description | iLearn Tool |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Students read the resources provided: assessment task detailed description, marking rubric, submission instructions and details about the peer review feedback component. | File/Folder/Book Resource |
| 2 | Students upload a 4-minute (maximum) video and two presentation slides (saved as PDF) by the designated date via the Echo360 video assignment upload method. Students can use any software they like to create the video. | Workshop Activity |
| 3 | After the submission deadline has past the Workshop tool switches to the ‘Assessment Phase’. Each submission (student) is automatically allocated X number of peers to review (in this case 4 submissions to review). The Workshop Activity tool allows the UC to set up a template for students to place their feedback comments into. The students receive a grade (in this setup) for their peer review component of the task. | Workshop Activity |
| 4 | Students also submit their video to the Assignment dropbox; this time they only need the URL link of the video uploaded to Echo360 in the previous step. The grading by teachers of the submission happens here – although it could happen in the Workshop Activity. | Assignment Activity |
This is the first time both Unit Convenors have run their oral presentations as video assignments. Neither assessment has been completed so they do not have feedback from the students yet.
Need help with setting up a video submission assignment?
Refer to the ‘How to Guides’ on the ‘Teach’ website first. There are corresponding pages to support students with video submissions.
- Guides on how to set up Assessment activities in iLearn, including:
- Media Collection Assignment
- Student Video Submission Assignment
- Workshops: creating a peer-review activity
- Consult with your faculty Learning Designers for assistance and support.
Final comment about assessing video submissions
The criteria used to assess the assessment task is determined by the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) and should NOT be a breakdown of the assessment task. The purpose of assessment is to measure achievement of the ULOs. Therefore, assessment criteria generally include elements such as: Knowledge, analysis, communication, critical evaluation, critical thinking etc. Unless your unit has ULOs related to digital communication, media production quality etc, these aspects should not be part of the assessed criteria.
Here are a few (imperfect) sample rubrics to get you started with creating your own rubric – adapt them to your discipline and assessment task:
- A Generic Learning Rubric: This rubric outlines levels of attainment and a range of generic learning attributes that might be taught and assessed in a university education.
- Marking Rubric for Group Project (Written Reports) – Elements of this rubric could be adapted for oral presentations.
- Marking rubric for oral presentations – only some criteria are relevant for disciplines outside of media studies.
Featured Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
Great article, Lyn. Thanks for sharing!
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